TimberManes and Hagar's Bane
by Dragon Courage
Summary: Vince and Larmina aren't the only cadets with a heritage to live up to. When, Danielle snuck into the Academy, she didn't expect it to be boring, she didn't expect to get latrine duty, and she definitely didn't expect to grow fangs after joining Voltron Force... Fem!Daniel no decided pairings, except maybe Keith and a certain blue lion pilot with blond hair
1. Chapter 1

Long ago, before Zarkon, before the Alliance, before even the lions, there was a planet. On this planet, two completely different races peacefully and beautifully co-existed together. They were the epitome of love and selflessness towards one another. Each covering the other's faults, each loving the other as family. If knowledge of such a racial relationship of amity and love was widely spread, historians would call it the golden planet and peacemakers would base all foreign relations upon this standard and example.

One race was a being of thought and deep rumination. They used their intellectual prowess to create beautiful cities and brilliant systems for transportation, sewage, and much more. Even from a young age each child born to this race showed talent of the mind. They were even proficient in magic and mind arts. However, despite all of this, they had a fatal flaw. They were only as strong as an average human being. Perhaps even sub-par. Even though they had minds worth their weight in gold, their bodies were pathetic in comparison. This race is often referred to as the Forgers by the few historians who know of their shadowy and mysterious existence. This name is chosen because of the great deed they later do.

In comparison, the second race is the Forgers' polar opposite. These beautiful and powerful creatures are strong and noble. They were the fastest, strongest, and most loyal companions the Forgers could have asked for. Their physical abilities are highlighted by their unique ability to shift forms. Originally, they supposedly had 2 forms. One of giant wildcats, and the other of a large cat-human mix. As the legend goes, the third form was created in the second race's wish to be more like their Forger friends. If the same legend is to be trusted, the second race first met the Forgers in some woods, at the dawn of Forger civilization. The Forgers, who kept very little body hair were amazed at the long'manes'that even the men of the second race kept. Therefore the name TimberMane was born and attatched as a label to the wild creatures that lived in the woods. However, like Forgers, TymberManes are also born into the world with a fatal flaw. They were largely color-blind and/or dyslexic. Some were even born blind or deaf. The reason for this is that the portion in a TimberMane's brain meant to control or aid in these processes was sacrificed for more brain cells devoted to their shifting ability. Even modern day scientists agree that it was a miracle that the TimberManes didnt seriously injure or kill themselves in what they considered a daily occurrence. Unfortunately, the drawbacks from having their shifting ability meant that the TimberManes would never have made it into outer space. It was only the Forgers who built the first space wotthy craft on their planet who invited the TimberManes with then into space.

Even long-term historians will agree that any relationship that did not involve death threats flying between the Forgers and the TimberManes is a miracle. According to studies on the planet they lived on, Tymbrell, this amiable friendship lasted for centuries, possibly longer. To understand how amazing such a truce was, one must consider several possible outcomes.

First, it was possible that the Forgers could have used their higher technology and sophistication in order to enslave the TimberManes. Despite the TimberManes larger size, it is important to remember that they were largely illiterate due to lack of use of a written language and severe dyslexia in most of their population.

Put the shoe on the other foot, and the TimberManes use their overwhelming brute strength and size to annihilate the Forgers before giving them a chance to regroup and use their powerful brains.

There are many other scenarios one could concoct, but, thankfully, the two planet-mates got along amazingly well. The TimberManes would protect the Forgers from physical dangers, while the Forgers protected the TimberManes from disease, parasites, the weather, etc. It was not entirely uncommon for young TimberManes and Forgers to be paired together as friends. The amount of variety between the species allowed for long-lasting friendships to be formed. Sometimes, the children of such pairings, once they had grown up, would eventually marry. Their children, however, were either TimberMane or Forger, not a hybrid.

Unfortunately, like most golden eras, this time of peace eventually came to end. However, it was not civil war that broke the stained glass window of peace. It was invaders. these foreigners had heard word of the ingenuity of the Forgers and they wanted it for their own.

Intending to take the Forgers captive, the invaders swarmed the planet of Tymbrell. However, they were quickly rebuffed by the loyal TimberManes, who didn't much appreciate the idea of their best friends, brothers, neighbors, or parents being taken away. The TimberManes fought valiantly. Out of all single planet wars, this war is estimated to have been the single most devastating, despite only lasting several years.

Both the Forgers and the Timbermanes fought bravely, and they won. However, the last known five TimberManes died the day of the final battle. Due to the TimberManes' heavy offensive capabilities, they suffered far more casualties as they fought on the front lines. The noble, mighty TimberManes took their last breath as a species defending their best friends from a life without freedom.

The entire Forger population was devastated at the loss. They mourned their friend and protectors heavily. In their honor, the Forgers began building an eternal monument. This monument would represent the TimberManes and everything they ever stood for.

It would come to be named as Voltron, after the mountain on which it was forged. However, one would only have to look at it to know it represented more than a mountain. Five brilliant, ferocious lions were forged out of the strongest, purest metals found in the galaxy. The fires used in the forging were hand picked with great care. Only the most talented smiths, scientists, and artisans were allowed anywhere near Voltron.

Voltron is made up of five seperate pieces, each representing one of the last five TimberManes. The form of a lion was chosen out of all the Timber cat-forms because in TimberMane culture, the lions were royalty. Thus, the Forgers honored them by proclaiming them all royalty despite their TimberKind.

However, the details of its forging is not what makes Voltron special. What makes it special is a deed that was performed by the entire Forger people. Using the souls of the five dead TimberManes, the Forgers bound them to the lions. Each lion took on the dominant characteristic of the soul. The black lion stands for honor. The red, for courage. Likewise, the yellow lion stands for loyalty. Green demonstrates gentleness and mercy. The blue illustrates peace.

With Voltron, the Forgers strived to protect the weak of the universe, just like the TimberManes protected them.

Every year, year after year, a bubble of peace and prosperity widened around where Voltron patrolled. The name Voltron became a name rejoiced throughout the universe. Voltron's reign is actually the first recorded interplanetary alliance with peace as its goal.

Unfortunately, not everyone loved Voltron. The evil witch Hagar did not. Hagar was a creature of evil who has lived millenia feeding off the pain of others. Hagar did not like peace because if the universe was at peace, she would wither and die as she should have many centuries ago.

In her hatred, she lured Voltron, piloted by five Forgers, to her by disguising herself as a beautiful angel. when Voltron was close, she released as much lethal dark power as she was able. In this strike, she both seperated the five lions- giving people the belief that she turned them into lions, despite that being how they were originally built- and killed the brave Forger pilots within.

The force of the blow sent the lions plummeting to a planet below that was heralded as beautiful. This planet is called Aeriss.

As revenge for building and piloting Voltron, Hagar then attacked Tymbrell, home of the Forgers. Without Voltron, the Forgers were defenseless. It was a slaughter. It is believed that not a single Forger survived her attack. The few Forgers off-planet quickly blended into human planets to avoid her wrath.

Over time, the story of friendship between the Forgers and TimberManes faded even beyond legend, not even the historians knowing more than a few pieces of their history. Even Voltron faded into obscurity.

At least, it did until five remarkable individuals found and piloted Voltron once more. Voltron soon became a symbol of peace and joy again, alongside the Alliance.

Despite later being called a menace and placed once again in storage, Voltron remained deeply entrenched in one young cadet girl's heart. She believed in it with all her heart. Her name is Danielle- or Dani, DanDan, or just Dan- and she wishes to pilot the black lion, little does she know, she's closer to the lions than she thinks.

It is believed that the TimberManes will never again befriend the Forgers in the living world. If you believed this, you'd be wrong. Way wrong.

**hi, it's me, again. i know i probly shouldn't start a story without finishing the other ones, but i've wanted to write this one for years... so i did!:) i dont own voltron btw, the cartoon maker people do. for that matter, i don't know everyhting about this series. some of the stuff i changed is changed for a plot reason, some of it... well, i just guessed. besides, if i got some stuff wrong, its just fanfiction:) read, enjoy, and review pls!**


	2. Ch 2 The Academy

ch 2

Danielle stifled a groan as she laid her head on her desk. ….so…. boring…..

Honestly, she thought sneaking into the Academy as a boy would be more interesting. Of course, she wouldn't have to sneak in if her examiner hadn't been blatantly sexist.

Shouldn't things be going a little... faster? All they did was listen to sermons and lectures all day. It was boring. Add to that, Dani's dyslexia was acting up again. Even now the letters on the board and on her desk swirled and twisted before her eyes.

Danielle turned her gaze to the window to watch the holocars fly by. This city was proclaimed by many people as beautiful. To Danielle, it looked like a stagnant cesspool. Sure, it looked like a paradise from the outside, but the reality was that once one moved to the city, you were on a stage. Be perfect to live in the 'perfect' city. Or else you were removed to who knows where. The alliance kept a strong grip on their poster child city. It said, 'Come one, come all, see the beauty of the alliance in all its sickening fake cheer'.

The whole thing felt wrong everytime Dani walked outside. She could practically smell it.

"Daniel," the teacher's voice cut through Dani's musings like a hot knife through butter. She jerked her hand up to pull her wool woven hat further down over her ears. Surely she wasn't discovered already. Real heroines only get discovered after they had proven their worth many times over, so not even stupid examiners can say otherwise.

Licking her lips in an attempt to rectify her mouth's sudden dryness, Dani asked in the deepest voice she could muster, "Sir?"

"The question, Mr. Daniel." The teacher was looking at her scornfully down his nose. They both knew she didn't know the answer.

Although she knew it was futile, Dani looked down to her desk hoping for the answer to just pop up on the screen. To her surprise, it did. Thankfully, in bold print as well. She glanced to the side at the boy across from her. The black kid grinned and tilted his handheld in her direction, revealing the same answer. He winked and went back to what he was doing before.

Danielle turned back to the teacher, trying to look natural, like she hadn't been about to flunk. She cleared her throat and tried to deepen her voice. "The battle of Gemini 4."

The teacher blinked and smiled, happy that one of his students was doing their homework; he was unaware of the silent exchange between his best student and his worst. "You are correct, Mr. Dan-," Dani's teacher gasped as his eyes locked on a shape slightly above Dani's head.

She flipped her head around while surreptitiously erasing the secret question answer on her desk holo. She hoped he hadn't seen it, or at least, that he hadn't seen the other kid help her out.

Although, judging by the look in his eye and the way he narrowed his eyes at her, he probably had seen it. Dani narrowed her eyes slightly; she could have sworn she knew him from somewhere.

The teacher sputtered for a few seconds more before he was able to form legitimate sentences. "C-commander Lance, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Oh! So that's where she knew him. The red lion pilot! He was just her second favorite pilot, second only to the black lion who was awesome!

Although, the red lion was fastest, so that gave this Lance guy a few points…. Although, not as many as the black li!-

"Well, I realized that the first lecture was already halfway over," Lance's words shocked Dani from her thoughts, "but I hadn't come to meet and greet the firsties, who I will be teaching to fly," here Dani shot up in excitement, "in their third year." Dani slumped with a muttered curse that caused the black kid across from her to snap his head towards her and she noticed Lance, who had made his way to the front of the class to glance to her slumping form.

The teacher smiled excitedly at Lance, as he said, "Well, children, now that we have the great Commander Lance all to ourselves, is there anything you would like to ask him? Perhaps about all the battles he fought in?"

Dani could have sworn she saw Lance wince and shoot a look at the teacher, who seemed to smirk in sadistic joy. What in the world?

But, seeing as Dani was extremely busy raising her hand wildly so she would be chosen, she threw the observation into the back of her head with all the other stuff she learned in class to be forgotten about until eternity ended. Dani pushed her hand just a little further towards the ceiling and was rewarded with Lance meeting her bright purple eyes and lifted his eyebrows, before shrugging a little and calling on her.

"Sir, with all due respect, what are you doing here? What really happened with Voltron?"

Dani internally winced as she heard her own voice. She hadn't meant to sound so... defiant. Or, well, she did, but she didn't want to be in trouble for it.

Dani blinked as multiple emotions flashed across Lance's face. Before he could speak, the teacher did, "Mr. Daniel, mention of Voltron is forbidden. You know this!"

"But i need to know," Dani protested.

"Mr. Dan-"

"It's fine, Teach," interrupted Lance with a sigh. He met my eyes and said, "It's natural to be curious, but I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen up."

"Yes, I was once part of an elite team called the Voltron Force along with four other pilots. I piloted the red lion. However, as you all know, Voltron was deemed unsafe, dismantled, and shipped back to their storage compartments on other pilots, Alura, Pidge, and Hunk are all serving the galaxy faithfully. Allura as ruler of Aeriss, and Pidge and Hunk reclaimed positions in the military and continue to protect our beautiful galaxy."

Dani narrowed her plum shaded eyes and furrowed her brow. She stood as she said, "What about the black lion pilot, Commander Kieth? Where is he?"

Around her, other students sent her glares, wanting to ask questions of their own. Lance gave her a look, but she refused to sit down until her question was answered. He sighed and answered, "Ex-commander Keith is a wanted fugitive and nobody knows his whereabouts."

Dani bristled and her scowl deepened as she lifted her top lip in a slight, barely noticeable snarl. When she spoke next, the listeners could taste her fury in the air. "How could you do that?! You abandoned your comrade and Voltron!"

Lance scowled right back as he answered, "Defending the universe is our top priority and that's exactly what we're doing. Voltron was just a vehicle."

For a moment, Dani felt she would suffocate in her own indignation. She spat, "Just a vehicle!"

Within two seconds, Lance crossed the room and grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip. "Alright," he said, "Up! You're coming with me."

Before Dani could protest, Lance glanced at the black kid across the aisle and added him to their trip, despite his complaints.

Apparently, he _had_ seen them cheat...

...,,,,,.,.,.,,,,,

**if i owned Voltron, it wouldn't have stopped mid series**

**ok, i got you your chapter. i'm kind of surprised i was able to update this fast, usually it can take up to six months for me to update anything in a row... it might help that i'm writing it on my phone tho, which is really convenient. but, seeing as i wrote this on my phone, LOOK OUT! there will be grammar problems. if anyone wants to beta this, i could use the help.**

**ok, would you guys prefer fast short updates, like this one, or longer episode length updates, which will take longer to make? as i'm keeping it canon for now, you have the choice, but later this will eventually go away from canon to even greater levels of awesomeness, i've already got it planned:)**

**pls review, complain or critisize:) or all three if you're up to it**


	3. Ch 3 Stupid AND Crazy

Ch 3

On the way to... wherever they were going, Dani went through every swear she knew, her collection was quite impressive too, in her head. She figured she was in enough trouble that tempting fate with cussing and cursing that would make a sailor blush was not a good idea. Especially since Lance was still right behind her, one hand on her shoulder and another on the black kid's shoulder.

Now, before them, a pair of gargantuan doors loomed ahead. Dani fancied that they marked the entrance to a lion's den. As the doors opened, Dani was given a view of what appeared to be a galaxy alliance meeting. Although some of the meeters weren't very happy if one was judging by their facial expressions and vocal tones. So politicians did have real feelings... who knew?

When the meeting was over, Dani got a good view of the speaker when he turned around. The sight of general Wade made her want to snarl. How dare he disengage Voltron?!

A growl met her ears as she fought to keep a civil expression. Glancing down, she saw the lion and almost jumped. How in the world had she not noticed him?

Another growl, and Dani wondered if the creature had some way of knowing her unfriendly feelings toward his master. The lion came very close to her, Dani felt Lance's grip on her shoulder tighten and the black kid gasped and moved away. Did the big cat scare them?

Now the lion lifted his head to her chin and sniffed at her. She looked into golden cat's eyes.

"Simba, heel!" General Wade to the rescue. ….. ewwww, Maybe Dani should just get eaten instead.

Simba, grudging turned, leaving Dani alone as it curled up at the general's feet.

Lance cleared his throat, regaining the attention of the room as he said, "Sir, these are the cadets I told you about."

General Wade glared down at the cadets as he towered over them. Dani couldn't help but think he was judging their worth. Quickly, before he could expel them both, Dani blurted out as fast as she could, "It's all my fault. He shouldn't be here; I don't even know his name."

At her outburst, the lion cracked an eyelid open from where he had been relaxing and General Wade seemed to scowl even more darkly. When he next spoke, it was more like the barking of an angry dog. "That's quite enough! No more of that sacrificial snit. I don't want soldiers in that calibre. I- the Galaxy Alliance needs strong, ruthless mercenaries, not weak, bleeding hearts like you. Especially not one so scrawny. Although, scrawniness will cease to be a problem for you if you violate my no voltron policy again. Both of you!"

The black kid winced, drawing back from General Wade's looming figure. Internally, Dani bristled and seethed. She swore she could feel her hair stand a little stiffer at the back of her head. Scrawny!? SCRAWNY!

Her lip curled in a barely noticeable snarl as she balled her fists. Dani glared straight into Wade's eyes, hoping he telepathically heard every single curse as she mentally damned him.

Of course, her internal, excessive cussing and threats of disembowelment went unnoticed as Wade took a step back and clasped his hands behind his back. If Dani didn't know better, she would say that something had unsettled the man and he was attempting to regain his composure. But over what?

Maybe he had heard a few of those disembowelment threats...

"The penalty for the first offense is latrine duty."

That didn't sound too bad...

"For the entire first semester. And the second semester as well."

...she needed to keep her mental mouth shut...

General Wade turned his back on them, a clear dismissal, and she once again felt Lance's hand on her shoulder. She let herself be guided away with slitted eyes as she raged internally.

She was not scrawny, she was not!

...,,...,,,,,,,,...

Lance never thought he'd see the day. When finally, the team was ready to take action instead of acting as a bunch of figure heads under Wade.

And he certainly never thought he'd see the day when they finally found two cadets who would be able to carry out the plan. For months, Lance had been looking for cadets loyal to Voltron and brave enough to, hopefully, steal from the dear general. But all the cadets at the academy were all but handpicked for their close mindedness, their determination to follow orders and nothing else. And, if a cadet did happen to think outside the box, the training regimen ands trict staff soon beat it out of them.

That was why Lance was meeting all the first years. Granted, he usually did, but this time he had purpose, a method to his madness.

When he walked in, the first thing he saw was a gawking, clueless cadet. Not that it was anything unusual. There were daydreamers at the beginning of every year. What was surprising was when the cadet looked down at his desk and answered the question after obviously not knowing it. Although when the cadet looked over to the black kid next to him, Lance had his answer.

Lance silently walked over to stand behind the dark haired cadet and looked over his shoulder. Yep, the black kid hacked the holo desks. Which was surprising, really, considering they were coded against such a thing. He was apparently pretty smart; which brought up the question. Why was the cadet helping this other cadet who obviously wasn't?

When Lance asked for questions he was surprised when the stupid cadet in the hat came alive started waving his hand like crazy. Lance was sorely tempted to ask if the brat was having a seizure.

What surprised Lance even more was when the cadet asked about Voltron despite the policy. And in an extremely abrasive and rude way no less. Although, lance smiled internally at having a fan. They were always nice, so long as it wasn't one of those stalker fans who tapped your phone and recorded everything from your lunch to how many different socks you owned. ...scary fangirls...

When the teen refused to be diverted, Lance had no interest in sending a bumbling fan on any kind of covert operation, Lance sighed and decided that he could at least tag the other interesting cadet as well. Maybe the smart one would keep the stupid one from getting caught.

However, Lance's opinion of Mr. Daniel- that was what the teacher called him, right?- soon changed drastically. Although watching someone face down a lion and then a general- who also happens to have the right to expel that someone- tends to do that.

When the lion- who usually ignores people as though they are beneath his notice- got feet away from the cadets and Lance himself, he got worried. When the lion got inches from the Daniel's face, Lance had to keep himself from grabbing the cadets and tearing out of there like someone set fire under his butt. But, Lance knew that would only incite the lion to chase. So, he tensed and tightened his grip on the cadets' shoulders- to hopefully reassure the cadets- and prepared to drag them away at the slightest hint of aggression.

The other cadet flinched away, terrified of the king of all beasts. But Daniel? Daniel was downright stoic. The kid didn't move a muscle. Didn't even tremble. He stared into the predator's dark eyes and glared back, as if to say, "You don't scare me. I have my own fangs and claws. Beat it!"

After the lion was called off- why the hell does Wade let that menace run free?- Lance revised his opinion of Daniel from stupid to stupid but fearless.

About five minutes later, Lance revised it again. Stupid and crazy. Cause starting a glare fest with Wade- and winning!- was insane and generally considered proof that someone was suicidal.

Although, considering that Lance would be asking them to undergo a heist with more risk than trying steal the necklace off a queen's throat and become Voltron Force cadets, craziness in a healthy portion wasn't always a bad thing.

... And even if it was, Aeris was supposed to have a state of the art asylum. Keith's grandma was there anyways... that old woman was scary... like sock-counter fan scary...

**Hey! i updated on time- i think- its a miracle! ok, so i looked at how ive been writing so far and i decided that i would go with the shorter faster udates- plus several people requested it- because even going one or two scenes at a time, the chapters end up pretty long, this one being the largest one yet, i think.**

**also, part of the reason i updated so fast was i got sick. i ate WAY too much crab bisque at a family reunion dinner- it was really good and i honestly didn't know it was rich enough to make me sick- and i ended up spending most of the night next to the porcelain pony:( although i got better- mostly, i still have bad stomach aches which makes my parents think there is something seriously wrong with me; appendicitis, permanent gluten intolerance, an ulcer .- i did manage to spend much of the time i miserably spent in bed and next to a toilet on my phone writing this, so if you want to thank anyone for my lack of tardiness- which almost never happens, ask my parents, i'm always late- thank crab bisque, which i will likely never eat again but nonetheless enjoy the taste of.**

**btw, i got a lot of requests for either LancexDani or KeithxDani. i just want to make this very clear, I WILL NOT PAIR DANI WITH A MEMBER OF THE ORIGINAL FORCE. Dani and Vince are first year cadets, meaning if you use high school ages, they are around 14 to 15 years old. the Voltron Force members are probably 20-30 years old. i can't make any real pairings between those ages in good conscience. the only Voltron Force member i could consider pairing with Dani would be Pidge, he's probably around 18-19 judging by lack of heavy build and facial hair, and i don't really see anything clicking between the two... although i am considering either an OC?- he may be slightly canon, although definitely not a main character- or Vince/Dani pairing. although, i'm going to say this now, the point of this story is NOT romance. the point of this story is the Timbermanes and a friendship/sibling bond between forgers and Timbermanes.**

**anywho, i also want to explain why Dani is a bit OOC. if you hadn't noticed, she's a bit wild: aka, the cussing, the wild nature, snarling at a teacher... well, there is a reason for that, one that goes along with canon which will be revealed at a later date, and because she's a girl. Daniel was pretty wild in canon, now, add in a teenage girl's tendencies and you get chaos in a bottle. or, in a slightly scrawny cadet with an attitude problem. guys, you probably don't believe me, but a girl is way more insane than you. i would know, i am one. yes, guys will get into way more trouble generally, i also know that, i have a little brother who i love very much but he drives me crazy. but, trust me, in a level of pure insanity, girls take the cake. why else do you think men can never understand women?**

**so yeah, just wanted to get that out of the way, before i got complaints about it. now, to bring this overly long A.N. to a close, thank you all so much for the reviews. i've never had that many reviews for a story so quickly. one of the main reasons i updated so quickly- other than being sick as a dog- is one of the reviews i got from a guest that was really humbling. im not going to quote it, but, amazing, wonderful guest- you know who you are-, you made my day and just about made me so happy i could cry, seriously, your review was awesome, thx:)**

**Dragon Courage, out!**


	4. Ch 4 This Is Awesome!

Ch 4

Cleaning toilets… not fun…. At least, not to Dani.

Though, she supposed, hanging out with Vince was pretty fun. He was a pretty nice guy, which kind of made her guilty she was lying to him about being a boy when she wasn't.

Now, they were walking down the hallway on their way to turn in their cleaning gear. She blinked as she noticed the simulator room on their left. It was strangely quiet. Every other time she walked past, some class or an older student was inside practicing. Dani had never seen it empty. Probably because she never came this way this time of day.

"Whoa," Dani said, "check it out. It's completely empty."

She and Vince peered through the glass. Inside, she could make out the cockpits in stainless steel, just waiting to be boarded. Dani grinned. It eerily reminded Vince of the predators on his favorite holoscreen channel's annual ''monster week."

"Come on, " said Dani as she opened the doors and slunk forward, the mission impossible theme song playing in her head.

Vince followed as he tried to imitate her smooth and graceful movements. "I thought you said that you didn't like the simulators."

"I don't, not when they tell us what to do. But now, its different. Now, we're rebels in a secret, clandestine mission to save the planet- no, the galaxy!"

Dani grinned again as she climbed into the cockpit, she could already feel her heart leap at the thought of fighting for the defense of her home!

They had been in the simulation for about five minutes, best five minutes of Dani's life, when a new ship appeared. Dani balked when she realized that it wasn't a CPU like the rest. This one had an actual person in it.

Apparently, Vince noticed, too. 'Cause he swerved and almost hit Dani in surprise. Dani dove down out of the way with a muffled growl. Leave it to a boy...

The other fighter pilot zipped in front of the two cadets before soaring ahead. Dani and Vince let out twin gasps of surprise. If that pilot was a teacher meaning to punish them, wouldn't he-she stop the simulator, instead?

"What's wrong, cadets? Can't keep up?"

Dani and Vince gasped in unison. The other pilot was none other than Lance, their evil teacher from before. Lance swerved in front of them both excellently as he laughed. "You're really trying to be expelled, aren't you, cadet?"

Dani growled in the back of her throat, how dare he? Disgusting, yellow bellied, traitor! Dani's eyes narrowed to slits, revealing only a sliver of lilac between dark, thick lashes. She bared her teeth in a snarl as she revved her craft's engines and nose-ramming the side of Lance's fighter.

Dani then zipped away as Lance was still recovering. She was good at flying, but he had over a decade of experience on her.

Lance's laughter filled the speakers again. "So, this is a game of tag, is it, cadet?"

Vince zipped away before he could get ''tagged". That looked painful, and he didn't like flying anyways.

...

.,.,...,.,,,..,..,..,...,.,...,,.,...,,

Across the galaxy, a navy haired pilot spoke to a spacemouse. And solved a hint, all in the same conversation.

...,.,..,...,,,.,,.,.,.,.,.,,.,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,. ,,,. ,.. .,., ,,. ,,,...,,,...,,,...,.,.,.,.

"Wooohoooo!"

"Huwahhhhhhh!"

"Hahaha! Hope you're buckled in, cadets!"

If someone were to be standing in a secret passageway, or listening to certain air vents, this is what they would hear. By any account, the sounds were certainly very varied from one another.

They belonged to Dani, Vince, and Lance, respectively. Each one of them had very different views and emotions on being in a moving simulator as it races through derelict passages, before parachuting into a hidden chamber.

Dani's thoughts: Let's do that again!

Vince's thoughts: I am never, ever doing this again.

Lance's thoughts: If Vince pees his pants, I'll win my bet with Hunk.

...Dani pov...

"This, my young cadets, is-"

Lance was interrupted by a brown haired toothpick of a man sitting in a high-backed office chair.

"The Den," Pidge, the green lion pilot, as Dani recalled, finished.

Beside her, Vince gasped as he recognised Pidge. "You're the green lion pilot, Pidge! I've read all your research. That dissertation of the outer planets was brilliant!"

Dani sweatdropped. From boy to squealing fangirl in five seconds or less, ladies and gentlemen.

All of a sudden, there was a loud noise from behind her along with flickering light. Dani turned her head so fast she almost got whiplash. She hated it when people sneaked up on her, made her hair stand up and it was just plain rude.

To her surprise and delight, the sneak was none other than Hunk, the yellow lion pilot. He turned off the flamethrower and lifted his protective goggles off his face. Grinning, he waved and said, "I'm Hunk, nice to meet you, cadets."

Despite the scare, Dani found herself smiling back. Hunk just seemed to be one of those people who were always in a good mood. Back at the desk, Pidge asked, "Why did you use the welder? You're not even welding anything."

Hunk grinned and put the fiery tool up on a shelf. Was he humming a rock song? Dani swore she could hear it.

Hunk said, "I know, I just wanted to make a cool entrance for the cadets."

Pidge facepalmed and Dani was tempted to do the same. Of course, 'cause that just made perfect sense.

"So," said Dani, "where is Keith?"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Always with the Keith."

Pidge grinned and asked, "Voltron fan?"

Dani flushed to her ears. Was it that obvious? "Ummmmmm, a bit."

Behind her, Lance snorted. "More than a bit. Look at this, guys."

Out of his pocket he pulled a piece of paper. Dani cringed as she realized it was her Voltron photograph that she had since she was four years old. Red marker doodles and all.

The minute the other adults saw it, they started cracking up. "You-" Pidge gasped out- "you drew glasses on my glasses! Why?"

Dani's already impressive blush turned a shade pinker. "Uhhhhh, six eyes?"

"And Lance's devil horns?"

Dani just shrugged. She didn't know, she had been four. Four year olds didn't think up the answer to the questions of the universe. They just did stuff.

"And, why do Keith and Allura have a trail of hearts connecting them?"

Danny blushed. When she was a child, she had thought that Keith and Allura had been together. It was a simple mistake really. Keith always protected Allura and Allura always seemed to gravitate towards Keith. They acted like the coupes in the parks had. How was Dani to know they were, in fact, not an item?

"Well," said Hunk as he straightened his posture, "I would love to hang around, but I'm on duty in a few minutes. It was great to meet you, I look forward to working with you clowns in the future."

Both cadets looked up to Lance's form in confusion. "Huh?"

Lance smiled as he explained, "We act like perfect soldiers on the outside to keep Wade off our tails. We really use our position to find info on Voltron and the rest of the universe. Pidge is even connected to Wade's personal computer for extra info. "

"Wow..." breathed Dani, this day gets better and better! First she met Vince, then she met Lance, thought he was a jerk but he turned out awesome, and now she met three more of her heros. This Was Awesome!

**AN: Whoa, did anybody catch what happened the first time i posted this chapter? really weird O.O it was like the site uploaded the actual code script along with the story. while it is cool to look at and decipher what code has to do to make words appear on a page. i'm sure everybody likes this update better. :) if this works. it may still look like code**

**well, srry for being a little late, i had multiple finals and two art competitions which kept me crazy busy, tho i did come home with first place and second:) plus i aced my finals which is always a good thing. otherwise, DC's mom, the most amazing mom in the world, thinks too much fanfiction is a bad thing and takes away DC's P.C...**

**if any one is willing to beta, that would be great. i write this on my phone, it's not a perfect piece of literature. if you are interested or know a friend who is interested, let me know:)**

**special thanks to digilover23 and everybody else that reviewed or PMed, i just read theirs first, they let me know the chappie didn't upload correctly in the first place, otherwise it would have taken me days to notice and fix**

**another cheer for the anonymous reviewer who says more more all the time. without those reviews i would have been doing more studying instead of writing:) tho i probly should have actually done more studying anyways...**

**and blaid23, your review made me laugh. i'm honestly not smart enough to write code script like what got uploaded, or, at least, not intentionally:)**

**well, i have to go, love you all! see you next time!**

**hope this uploads right... this time...**


	5. Ch 5 Are you smarter than a General?

Ch 5

Ok, Dani would be the first admit it. She was going to help whether she was threatened by a mind erasing device or not. But, she wasn't some sissy fangirl who jumps at the thought of being anywhere near Voltron and its pilot. So she wasn't going to act like one, even if she wanted to jump up and down screaming 'yes!' at top of her lungs.

Besides, she had an identity to keep.

And a mission to complete. Dani grinned at Vince as they walked through the halls carrying their cleaning equipment. Ahead of them, they could hear Wade entering the latrine by the 'swoosh' of the door.

Her grin widened as she moved ahead of Vince, bounding lightly on her toes in silence. Behind her, Vince wondered what planet the crazy chiks all came from. (Read: the mall planet)

Dani swiped her key card and crept within the bathroom, catching a glimpse of the back of Wade as he locked himself in a stall. Dani thanked God that the academy had stalls and not urinals. She shivered and reached Wade's coat as Vince hung back as lookout. Swiftly, Dani exchanged the medals on the coat for the fake identicals supplied by Lance, Pidge, and Hunk.

She winced when she heard Wade flush and swiftly bolted back to the door on silent feet. Vince grabbed her uniform sleeve as they rushed out and into the open hallway. They glanced at each other as they gasped for breath and simultaneously burst into grins and giggles.

Until they saw the lion. Giggles ceased almost immediately as they looked into large slitted cat pupils and a low rumbling growl came from deep within the creature's chest. For a moment, Dani was mesmerized by fierce predator's eyes.

Then, she blinked and the spell was broken. The lion snarled and Dani jolted into action, slinging her cleaning bucket into its face, and dragging Vince past it by the hand. She could hear him gasping in fear as her own heartbeat accelerated. Dani almost started flat out cursing when Vince tripped. And they were so close to the door, too.

Dani heard the lion growl as she whipped around to see Vince on the ground clutching his ankle. Why did this feel like some kind of backwards romance movie?

"Vince!" She shouted. He was a boy, so why did he act like such a girl?

She bounded forward, a feral snarl ripping from her throat in challenge as the lion stalked closer to Vince, certain its prey was caught. Dani leapt over Vince, landing in front of him as her snarl morphed to a full throated roar.

The lion snarled and leapt, not fond of the challenger that seemed keen to steal the prey food from his claws.

Dani bared her teeth and sprang forth. She held her arms out in front of her as she connected solidly with the lion's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck as tight as possible while she brought up her feet and kicked at his stomach.

With their mutual forward momentum arrested, both growlers fell to the floor as gravity took effect. Somehow, Dani ended up on the lion's back, her arms wrapped around the creature's neck still. Feeling its assailant on its back, the lion twisted and bucked like a donkey, determined to rid itself of its burden.

Dani tried to hold on. She really did. But, that lion was about 500 pounds heavier than she was and it was definitely stronger. Dani clung tighter as she felt her arms giving out and loosening their hold on the beast's neck. But it was a lost cause, as, on a final buck, the lion threw Dani over its head.

Dani slammed into a wall, seeing stars as he head made impact. She slumped to the ground, stunned.

The lion observed her for a moment before turning back to Vince, his original prey. Vince had dragged himself over to one wall and had his holo device out as he desperately paged Keith, Pidge, or Hunk, even. He looked up as he saw the approaching hunter. Simba prowled towards him on silent paws, content in his own hunting prowess now that the pesky female had been dealt with.

Dani groaned as she lifted herself up, bringing a hand to her forehead, where she felt some kind of slimy liquid. The girl brought her hand away to see red blood smeared across it. That would explain the colors blurring across her vision and the way her head was pounding.

Though it would not explain the snarling.

Dani blinked and tried to clear her vision. It worked, somewhat. She, at least, could see the blurry images of Vince and Simba the lion as one prowled towards the other. She should probably do something about that.

With another groan, Dani lifted herself to her feet, swaying as the world played funny mirror with her perception. Vince so owed her for this.

On unsteady legs, Dani staggered forward towards the lion that was getting ever closer to Vince. She picked up her pace to a drunken skip-hop as she saw the beast crouch in preparation of a pounce. Its tail swept the floor in anticipation as the muscles in its haunches tensed.

Dani and Simba leapt at the same time, luckily Dani wasn't charging him head on. She smashed into the side of 600 pounds of muscle just enough to throw him off course. The lion yowled as he slammed head first into the wall next to Vince, stunning itself rather painfully.

Dani straightened from her crouch to smirk at the feline and say, "See how you like it."

"Danny, come on, we have to get out of here, remember, dude?"

Dani blinked, swayed as the throbbing in her head once again made itself known, and said, "Oh, yeah."

Together, she and Vince hobbled away from the recovering lion as fast they could manage, leaning on each other. Vince was once again messing on his tablet, perhaps trying to call Lance for help. Behind them, Dani could hear the lion snarl as it regained its feet.

Gripping Vince's arm tighter she struggled to drag him along faster. They just had to reach the door at the end of the hallway.

For a moment, Dani thought they would make it. But then, she heard the lion's approach paw falls as his pads brushed the floor and his snarls of fury arced into the diminishing space between the cadets and himself.

Dani tensed, preparing to turn and make her last stand. At least she would die the way she wanted to, in combat defending the weak, aka Vince... they should add that to her tombstone, it would be a nice touch.

However, just as she bent her knees to turn and fight, Vince pulled her to the side by the arm. And into the wall. Which opened to reveal a hidden janitors closet. Dani felt the wind of the lion's leap as it) landed where the cadets had been a moment before.

Dani and Vince tumbled into the closet, upending numerous brooms and mops, as Vince typed on his tablet to close the door. The door hissed shut just as the lion turned and leapt again, slamming his head against what now appeared as a wall.

For a moment, the teens stared dumbly at the door, amazed at their own mortality and luck. Down the hall, back the way they came, they heard the heavy footsteps of Wade as he returned from the bathroom. Simultaneously, Dani and Vince both froze as they once again entered the previous mindset of terror.

Through the crack between the floor and the hidden door, Dani could see the lion's paws as he attempted to reach them. Surely General Wade would find them. He probably knew where all the hidden closets in the school were.

However, thankfully, the general seemed impatient to be somewhere else. Instead of checking what the feline was after, the general called Simba back with a stern voice, before proceeding down the hall away from the hiding and terrified cadets.

Dani let out a relieved breath she hadn't been aware of holding. What a day... From school to latrine duty to secret mission to lion fighting and hiding with a boy in a broom closet. Okay, that last part sounded a bit wrong.

She turned to Vince, only to be puzzled when she saw him already staring at ger in shock and slight horror. What? Was it the blood running down her face from the gash above her right eye or did she have something in her teeth?

Suddenly, she realized where he was staring. At her hair, where her beanie should have been to hide all of it, smooshed into a bun that felt like it had actually fallen out in the lion fight.

Revealing her identity as a female and that she had indeed been lying to him since they met.

"Uhhhh," she cleared her throat, her voice going abnormally high in fear. Dani tried to smile, but she had a feeling it came out a little lopsided.

"Oops?"

**Hey, Guys, long time no post, huh? sorry about that, my life got real busy all of a sudden. i went to regionals for my competition, which i won first place in, and i recently got a commission for fifty small pictures of inked sunflowers, so i have been, and still will be, very busy. i also recently got back from church summer camp, which was amazing. i was babtized by the Holy Spirit and started speaking and praying in tongues, or in the prayer language if you would rather call it that. anyways, we couldn't have electronics at camp, so i actually had the story ready, i just couldn't post it. **

**so, what do you think about my first, of hopefully many, fight scene? and then the reveal? i am seriously spoiling you this week, all this action at once...**

**so i know i have mentioned this before, but i am in desperate need of a beta. i write this on my phone, so its not always gramatically correct. if you know anyone or are interested yourselves, pls shoot me a pm, i would really appreciate it.**

**ok, so enough about me, you guys have been awesome! i loved each and every review i got. thank you so MUCH! especially to the guest who says more all the time. every time i get his or her review i get the warm fuzzies inside and i start laughing randomly which makes people look at me weird.**

**so, see you all next time, Dragon Courage up, up, and away! weeeeee!**


	6. Ch 6 Secrets and Elves

Ordinarily, Dani was quite fond of the waist length wild mane she called hair, proud even. But, right now, she wished she had not chosen to keep it on the premise that when she heroically revealed herself it would make her look fierce as it blew in the wind.  
Problem was, she was not yet a hero, she was a cadet, so if people realized that she lied, she would be in big trouble.  
Dani was drawn back to the situation at hand by Vince's choking on air noises. She met his eyes in time for her to see him say, "Y-you're a GIRL!"  
He remained silent after that, staring at her with planet sized eyes. Apparently, upon being presented with a female, Vince shorts out his brain.  
Dani sighed, well the old plan was spoiled, but maybe it could still be cultured into something else.  
"Yes, Vince, I am a girl. As I have been all this time. Now before you get mad, I just want to say, I am sorry. I didn't want to lie. Especially to a nice guy like you. But I couldn't get into the academy any other way. So, don't get mad. Please."  
Vince continued staring. "Y-you're a girl!"  
Oh boy... or, girl...  
Dani sighed, talking to a brainless Vince with a head ache the size of Texas was probably not entirely healthy, especially since she was sure she was concussed.  
"Vince! Pay attention! I need you to keep this a secret. Please! It's important that no-one else knows that I'm a girl. Not even the Voltron force."  
Vince seemed to wake up at that, his eyebrows coming together in concern. Vince frowned as he said, "Dani, we have to tell them. If we don't then we're lying. We can't lie to them!"  
Dani purposely made her violet eyes go big like a kicked kitten.  
"PLEASE, Vince! If the Voltron Force finds out that I'm a girl, that I lied, and that I lied even to them, they'll think I'm a cheating piece of scum. And they'll send me back. I live in a foster home with over 30 other kids that all hate me, Vince! I can't go back. Please, don't tell them."  
As Dani stared at Vince, she felt her eyes moisten with tears. She really couldn't go back. Those kids were cruel, vicious, menaces that wouldn't be accepted anywhere else. It seemed as though the brats had had it in for Dani since she arrived, throwing stones and calling names.  
The only reason she was in that foster house was because of all the trouble she had gotten into at others. It seemed to follow her like a dog. Trouble that is, not foster houses.  
Dani cheered on the inside when Vince lost his determined look and bit his lip, obviously torn.  
"Besides," Dani continued, "it's not like we won't tell them eventually. I just need a little more time to gain their trust. And prove my worth. It'll work out fine, trust me!"  
Dani finished the last part with a grin and leaned her pleading face closer to Vince, begging him with bright violet eyes. Their face were inches apart.  
"Pleeeeeeeeeeasssssssssse!"  
For good measure, Dani lifted her hands up like she was praying and widened her eyes just a bit more.  
It was that straw that broke the camel's back.  
Vince sighed and nodded, slumping his shoulders. He knew when he was beaten. "Ok, ok, I won't tell anyone."  
Dani's grin turned blinding as she immediately engulfed Vince in a big hug.  
"Oh!" She squealed as she crushed him in her arms, "Thankyou! Thankyou!THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! You have no idea how much this means to me Vince! I so owe you! Seriously, you need any help for the rest of my life, just ask! Ooooooh, this is going to be awesome! Thankyou."  
Dani pulled back still grinning as she brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face. Vince was one awesome friend.  
Vince lightly smiled back. That was the first time a girl other than a relative hugged him. Luckily, his new friend couldn't see his blush in the dark broom closet. Not that she would notice. She seemed a little oblivious at times...  
Dani blinked and asked, "By the way, do you know where I dropped my hat? I love my hair, but its a bit of a giveaway,you know?"  
Vince laughed and held up the discarded headgear. "It fell off when we were running from the lion. I scooped it up on impulse."  
Dani smiled again as she took the hat back and began the tedious process of sticking her hair beneath it.  
"Thanks, its the last thing I have of my mother."  
For a moment, there was silence before laughter. Dani was sure Vince started it. Probably. The two laughed for a few seconds as their past situation hit them.  
Dani giggled as she said, "I can't believe I tried to fight that thing with my bare hands. What was I thinking?"  
Vince chuckled, leaning back against the metal wall. "Probably whatever I was thinking when I hacked into the school looking for the protocol to enable security lasers. Luckily, I found the closet instead."  
"This place has lasers? What the heck? Overkill, much?"  
"Yeah, and then you turned out to be a girl! I mean, what's up with that?"  
The giggles and laughter was beginning to die down as the teens' stress induced hysteria began to die down. Dani gave a sigh as she said, "Crazy day, huh?"  
Vince grinned a little and said, "Yeah."  
"So, friends?"  
"Yeah."  
Then, the only noise was two fists fistbumping as a very powerful bond ignited.

Omake  
"You're an elf!"  
Dani blinked. "What? No! I'm a girl!"  
"But you have long hair!"  
"Girls have long hair!"  
"Girls don't fight lions!"  
"This one does!"  
Vince blinked and seemed to think it over before coming to the logical conclusion. "No way, you've got to be an elf, it makes complete sense."  
"No, I'm not!"  
Yes, you are!"  
"Am not!"  
"Are too!"  
"Am not!"  
"Are, too! Let me see your ears!"  
"What?! Heck no!... HEY! Get off me stop pulling my ears!"  
"They're not... they're not pointed..."  
"Of course, they aren't, I told you, I'm a girl, not an elf!"

"..."  
"Oh! I get it now!"  
"Finally."  
"You have them under an illusion so others can't see them. Totally awesome, dude!"  
"UGH!"  
"Hey, why did you just slap yourself? Its ok, I won't tell anybody. It'll be a secret. Just you and me, elfie!"

**hey, i'm back! srry if this is late. i went to the finals in that competition and won third place! it was awesome! so now i am an award winning artist. YAY! oh, and many thanks to all my reviewers especially that anonymous one who reviews so often- you know who you are, even if i don't- and i finally understand what asterous means after reading luthor's assassin most of the way through. robin and young justice all the way!**

**but, the person i really, really, really want to thank is my amazing beta! everyone, round of aplause to SilverMoon Lavoy!**

**Moonie: thankyou, thankyou, hi, i'm SilverMoon Lavoy, nice to meet you. i will be updating my fics soon... eventually...**

**me: thx Moonie! everybody, now you no longer have to worry about me writing this on my phone! now Moonie fixes all of my phone typos and other miscelanious mistakes. apparently i was misspelling 'Arus' wrong the whole time. whoops...**

**anyways, see you all next time, i love you all, God bless you and good luck in the new school year!**

**ps. i am working on a cover art or fan art for this fic- also on my phone so wish me luck!**

**pps. any Christians pls pray for a little girl named maddie, shes four an got attacked by a pit bull. she's having reconstructive surgery this week to replace a big ol' chunk of her lip. poor sweet doll. pls pray for her she is very sweet and a blessed child of God.**


	7. Apologies

hello, all. No, i am very sorry this is not another chapter. Unfortunately, I am not sure if i will be posting another one in the future. I want to write this and I have a very clear outline for what is supposed to happen, but unfortunately Netflix took the series off and i cannot find it. the way I had been going with this, I was watching a little of the episode and then writing a little. watching, then writing. without the series, I'm not sure I can finish this the way I wanted to. So, for now at least I am placing this story on something of a hiatus. i will probably release a chapter every once and a while, but it will not be my focus and if I do write a chapter, it will not be the same as the ones I have already posted. I am so so so sorry. I really love this story, and I have some awesome stuff planned, but if I do keep writing this, I will need a lot of help from someone who knows the story and can help me write dialogue and events. if any of you readers would like to volunteer, that would be super super cool of you. anyways, until further notice. Hiatus.

i hate that word:(


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